Report should have cited source of criticism

I take exception to comments made in your Jan. 31 article "Critics ridicule tribe's Taunton ties," which utilizes half-truths and unidentified sources to discredit me.

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capecodtimes.com

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Posted Feb. 6, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Posted Feb. 6, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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I take exception to comments made in your Jan. 31 article "Critics ridicule tribe's Taunton ties," which utilizes half-truths and unidentified sources to discredit me.

It is no secret that my "pro bono" research against the Mashpee's efforts to gain lands in Southeastern Massachusetts has been on behalf of the state-recognized Pocasset-Pokanoket tribe.

You refer to me as a "hired gun" without citing the source of this assertion — opposition legal counsel. According to them, out of nine federal acknowledgment research projects I was involved in, I concluded only one would meet federal requirements to become a tribe. But you neglected to mention the Bureau of Indian Affairs in each case concurred with my findings.

As for my work being called "'slipshod' and 'replete with errors,'" those comments, regarding a land-related suit with the Shinnecock tribe, were made by the Shinnecock's defense counsel. The judge in that case praised my research in his decision, which found in our favor.

It would be interesting to see if you will subject the Mashpee's historian to the same sort of journalism.

James Lynch

Waterbury, Conn.

The writer, owner of James P. Lynch Historical Consulting & Research Services, is working on behalf of the state-recognized Pocasset Tribe, which opposes the Mashpee Wampanoag casino plans.